The Week: December 1-4, 2008

December starts out strong, with this week bringing a highly-anticipated visit by Bruce Campbell, and a heaping pile of live music, with shows by Taproot, Big John Bates with the VooDoo Dollz, Deastro, Jeffrey Siegel, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, Jonatha Brooke, Carrie Underwood, Hot Buttered Rum, The Daredevil Christopher Wright, and Split Lip Rayfield.

Monday 12.1

Taproot

Annex, 8 pm

The Ann Arbor quartet specializes in the crashing guitar riffs and barbaric yawps of nu metal. Taproot's new album, Our Long Road Home, is its sixth, and the first since it left Atlantic for la vie indie. Also appearing: Silvergun, Pine.

Big John Bates & the VooDoo Dollz

High Noon Saloon, 9 pm

Vancouver's Big John Bates plays Cramps-inspired psychobilly while the punked-out burlesque gals of the VooDoo Dollz shimmy along to the music. The Pistols at Dawn open the show with some down-and-dirty surf rock.

Deastro

Frequency, 9:30 pm

He's named after a G.I. Joe character and his debut CD is called The Young Planets/Our Brother the Megazord - Time the Teenage Twister, so it makes sense that Deastro's vocal-and-synth compositions might be a little off-the-wall. Imagine '80s synth-pop colliding with the Postal Service and '70s prog, and you'll understand why Real Detroit Weekly named Megazord the best new album of 2007. Also playing: Pax Americana, Alethio.

Tuesday 12.2

Jeffrey Siegel's Keyboard Conversations

UW Mills Hall, 7:30 pm

Madison has for decades been a stop on the tours of pianist Siegel, who weaves together piano music and discussions of history and analysis, plus answers to questions (hence: conversations). It's all very witty and entertaining, and this evening's program, Basking in Beethoven, includes "32 Variations in C Minor" and the "Farewell Sonata" in E Flat.

Rock Star Gomeroke

High Noon Saloon, 9 pm

Sweat off last week's turkey and stuffing with some dance rock, stage slides and air guitar. The High Noon will provide the stage, and Madison's own Gomers will supply the backup.

Wednesday 12.3

Bruce Campbell

Sundance Cinemas, 7, 7:30, 9:30 & 10 pm

The B-movie actor, producer, writer and director, who played Ash in the Evil Dead movies, is on hand to promote his new film, My Name Is Bruce. It's a self-effacing spoof.

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings

Barrymore Theatre, 7:30 pm

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings have spearheaded a revival of late-'60s funk and soul sounds using analog recording techniques and old-school instruments. Plus, Jones might just be the second coming of James Brown. The Menahan Street Band opens.

Jonatha Brooke

Majestic Theatre, 8 pm

Though Jonatha Brooke's songs may be best known from TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ally McBeal, she's turned her attention to Woody Guthrie for her latest album, The Works, which contains a number of the folk pioneer's unpublished lyrics set to her own melodies and harmonies. Also playing: Glen Phillips.

Thursday 12.4

Carrie Underwood

Alliant Energy Center's Coliseum, 7:30 pm

The winner of the fourth season of American Idol quickly rose to superstardom thanks to the popularity of singles such as "Before He Cheats" and "Wasted." She visits Madison as part of a tour supporting her second album, the multi-platinum Carnival Ride, which was released last year. Little Big Town opens.

Hot Buttered Rum

Majestic Theatre, 9 pm

When Bill Monroe founded the Blue Grass Boys in 1938, perhaps he didn't imagine that the band's namesake genre would still be going strong 70 years later. But here is Hot Buttered Rum, the San Francisco progressive bluegrass outfit whose banjo- and fiddle-driven music sounds much like the old stuff, even if song titles like "Day Trader" and "Metrosexual" bespeak changed times.

The Daredevil Christopher Wright

Cafe Montmartre, 9:30 pm

Eau Claire's indie-pop threesome the Daredevil Christopher Wright has opened for Weezer's Matt Sharp and was the subject of a feature story on NPR in 2006. Tonight they pair up with the scraggly chamber pop of local indie dreamboats Crane Your Swan Neck. Also playing: Jeremiah Nelson.

Split Lip Rayfield

High Noon Saloon, 9 pm

Using bluegrass instruments such as banjos and mandolins, Wichita-based three-piece Split Lip Rayfield creates a sound that more closely resembles metal and punk rock than a country hoedown. The band stops in Madison this week to promote a new album, I'll Be Around.